


The Right Place

by hammerxsword (QDS)



Category: Young Wizards - Duane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-09-07
Updated: 2005-09-07
Packaged: 2017-10-05 22:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QDS/pseuds/hammerxsword
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Challenge 38. from myriadwords</p><p>Theme: I'd like to get away from earth awhile<br/>And then come back to it and begin over.<br/>May no fate wilfully misunderstand me<br/>And half grant what I wish and snatch me away<br/>Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:<br/>I don't know where it's likely to go better.<br/>-- Birches, Robert Frost. With Pairing: Tom/Carl</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Right Place

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Young Wizards characters and situations belongs to Diane Duane. Except for Alex and Kelly (although mentioned in passing); they're mine.
> 
> Spoilers up to and for _High Wizardry_, set somewhere between that and _A Wizard Abroad_, but with reference to some aspects from _A Wizard's Dilemma_ (but not spoilers for WD. Trust me on that.)
> 
> Acknowledgments: lixia84 for beta-ing even with her limited knowledge of the fandom, and labellementeuse for the early encouragement and for starting myriadwords and the challenge to generate more Young Wizards fan fiction.

The word processor was a blank, as was Tom's mind. Despite the approaching deadline, nothing at all seemed to fit. Despite the knowing the genre of the new show with an intimacy that his producers would have sold their souls for (which was closer to the truth than they might have expected), any word that came out of Tom's head and onto the screen appeared foolish and a half-hearted attempt at best.

He had the rest of the day to finish the crucial scene, and it was still just passed breakfast. Carl had already left the house in a flurry with only a quick peck on Tom's cheek, leaving Tom to the computer and a nearly silent house. The occasional woof from Annie or Monty at a pedestrian some way down Rose Avenue was the only sign that Tom wasn't entirely alone in the house. Then when a small gust of wind blew against a door and made it creak, Tom started, almost thinking he'd heard Peach.

The house was a lot quieter without the macaw. Tom, in the midst of writing towards a pressing deadline, with Peach trying to destroy a leg of a dining room chair, had often loudly wished for a permanent way of shutting the bird up.

He hadn't expected that someone, or something, would actually take him seriously.

Of course, who – or perhaps rather, _what_ – had been hiding inside the ever-squawking Machu Picchu had been most surprising. Nita and Kit had explained it almost with an expression of awe as they recounted the discovery that Peach had been the Winged Defender. As Senior Wizards, he and Carl had taken the news with composure. Despite their sadness at Peach's death, they had also been proud of that darn bird.

Years of wizardry didn't make it easier to let go, however. Carl had only just given the rest of Peach's bird feed to a neighbour. Tom had come home after helping a wizard in New Jersey with a dispute over sky space between two different flocks of ravens, and found that the peanut shells had been swept up. It pained Tom somewhat that he hadn't made any move to do it, but it was a silent agreement that it had to be Carl. His partner's attachment to the bird had been far greater than Tom's and the catharsis of removing the unnecessary traces of Peach had seemed to relax Carl.

"She was a good bird," Carl had said later that night as they ate, and the sadness that lingered in the house dissipated.

It didn't quite stop Tom from missing Peach, but he knew that would take a little while longer.

Another two hours ticked by. Tom managed a paragraph in that space of time. Brief periods of writer's block weren't unusual in his profession, but damn annoying when they did come. Eventually, Tom unplugged the laptop from the wall and took it outside to the patio. The koi pond bubbled with activity, and Tom as settled down to reopen the computer and the mostly blank file, Akagane-sama popped her head out of the water and winked at him deviously, before splashing back into the water.

I'll try not to guess what she means by that, Tom thought. Fish with oracular tendencies were on occasion frustrating.

He typed in another sentence, then deleted it. He tried again, and deleted that and the one above it as well. He sighed, and glared at the pond. Leaning back, he thought over what could possibly be playing with his mind in such a way that he simply couldn't find the right words to get this damn scene out. It wasn't Peach. It wasn't Nita or Kit, or Dairine for that matter.

Then, he found it. The lingering thought that he had been trying to push to the back of his mind but now couldn't be ignored surfaced like Akagane just had; without announcement, but full of importance.

Alex.

Not long after Nita, Kit, and Dairine had come back from Dairine's ordeal, Tom had passed Alex in the local mall. Like Kit, Alex had had an affinity with technology, which complemented his job as a mechanic so perfectly. From the oily overalls he was wearing when Tom saw him again, Tom could only assume that he was still working as one. For a split second, he almost thought Alex had recognised him. The puzzled expression on the blond man's face almost made Tom say _Dai'stiho_, to remind Alex of what he had once been. But Tom knew it was useless, and kept walking.

Alex had wanted a break from wizardry. Not long, just enough to 'recuperate' had been his exact word. 'Maybe I can start again, afresh,' he'd said…The Powers that Be didn't take kindly to what seemed to be flippancy in the far grander scheme of things. Though they weren't ungrateful for the service the wizard had performed. Wizards – former wizards – carried on with life, perhaps a little more charmed than most, and simply forgot everything about wizardry. What they had been, the Speech…and their fellow wizards. These were left with a permanent empty look in their eyes, as if they knew they were supposed to be searching for something but could only half-remember what it was.

How much worse would that be for Kelly? Tom thought later on, thinking of Alex's ex-girlfriend who was now completely gone from Alex's memory, as if they'd never met.

Once, when he was ten years younger, Tom himself had thought about giving up wizardry all together. He lost a close friend to wizardry…and the universe had kept going as if nothing had happened. Even with his experience, he'd wanted the Powers that Be to do _something_, anything that might show that they cared even the slightest for the loss that he grieved for a solid year.

He couldn't say Carl had saved him; a wizard can only really save themselves. However, a helping hand was never unwelcome. They had been the two present wizards when a cranky power generator at a New York television station had decided to display its frustration at being over worked by shutting down. Carl had managed to coax it back into operation, while Tom had negotiated with the other machines on ways of working more co-operatively with the generator.

That same month, Carl had been hired by the station, and he and Tom had a celebratory dinner.

It was only another four months before Carl moved in. By then, Tom knew that wizardry was a permanent part of his life, and that no matter what happened, he wasn't giving it up. The Powers that Be cared for all life in the universes…but entropy was ever present, and all the Powers could do was slow that process down.

He pushed the computer slightly forward, and leaned back in his chair. He was supposed to be writing a scene where the hero met an old friend who had left the rebel cause for a quiet life as a trader in power crystals. His producers wanted a confrontation fraught with tension and perhaps a fight in an intergalactic tavern.

All Tom could see was the near haunted look in Alex's eyes, and how they had reminded him that slips in strength could alter life as one knew it so completely.

***

It was dark when Carl got home. Tom hadn't moved from the patio, and the computer had turned itself off hours ago. He stood as Carl walked up from the driveway, and leaned forwards his partner for a kiss.

"Well hello," Carl said when they broke away.

"Hey."

Carl raised an eyebrow. "Deadline bothering you?"

"Yeah. And more besides."

Carl nodded and swung his arm around Tom's shoulders. Tom awkwardly picked up the computer and allowed Carl to lead him back inside. Once there, Carl broke away from him to put down his briefcase, jacket, and undo his tie. Tom eased the laptop onto the kitchen table, and they stood apart, looking at each other.

Carl was the first one to move. He stepped forward and slipped his arms around Tom's waist, pulling him close and tucking his head against Tom's neck. Under Tom's hands, Carl's back felt strong and taut. He gave Carl a good squeeze, and pressed his lips on Carl's shoulder.

_I'll be okay._ Tom's mind reached the short distance to Carl's. Actual speech seemed inadequate.

_I know that. I am allowed to worry, you know._

Carl pulled back, and cupped the back of Tom's head with his large hand, massaging lightly with his fingers. Tom felt a tingling sensation curl down his spine, and spread to the rest of his body.

_You know me far too well._

Carl smirked, and then drew Tom towards him for a gentle but long lasting kiss.

As Carl led Tom by the hand upstairs to the bedroom, Tom knew that this was the right place for him to be. Here, in this house, with his partner – in all things – on this little blue planet in the boondocks of their universe.

He couldn't think of a place where it was likely to be better.


End file.
